Pipe collar locator and method of using same



Oct. 28, 1969 L. K. MOORE 3,

PIPE COLLAR LOCATOR AND METHOD OF USING SAME Filed July 29. 1966 WEIGHT MOML'I'EI? (my 27/) 0.6 i 4i I x c wlaw/6069 /K. Moore A INVENTOR.

BY (9 Hand A 'I'TOR NE YS 3,474,539 PIPE COLLAR LOCATOR AND METHOD OF USING SAME Lawrence K. Moore, 3716 Ingold St., Houston, Tex. 77005 Filed July 29, 1966, Ser. No. 572,872 Int. Cl. G01 23/00; G01b 3/00 US. Cl. 33-126 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE, DISCLOSURE An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved collar locator and method of using same wherein the collar locator is adapted to be lowered on and actuated by a flexible line for .determining the position or elevation of one or more collars in a well pipe or casing.

The preferred embodiment of this invention will be described hereinafter, together with other features thereof, and additional objects will become evident from such description.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, wherein an example of the invention is shown, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation, partly. in section, of the device of this invention, and illustrating the method of using same; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 1 to further illustrate the invention.

In the drawings, the letter A designates generally the collar locator of the present invention which is adapted to be used for determining the elevation of one or more collars or recesses C' in a well pipe or casing C. Also, when the apparatus A is usedin a casing C having a length of tubing or tubing string T therein, the apparatus A is adapted to indicate the elevation of the lower end of such tubing or tubing string T. Briefly, in carrying out the method of this invention, the collar locator A is lowered into the pipe or casing C so as to catch same in one of the collars C. Upon an upward pull on a flexible line or wire line W supporting the collar locator A, a change indicated on a conventional weight indicator B informs the operator that the collar C has been caught or engaged by the collar locator A. The elevation .jof the collar C is determined by an indication on the odometer or other depth indicator D, of any conventional con struction. In the preferred form of the invention, the weight indicator is connected to a suitable recorder so as to record the elevation of the collar C as well as other collars which are located with the locator A. Also, the location or elevation of the lower end of the tubing T may be similarly recorded on the recorder, as will be more fully evident hereinafter.

Considering the form of the invention illustrated in the drawings more specifically, the collar locator A includes a body 10 which may take numerous forms, but as illustrated is elongate and is provided with a central slot 10a. The upper end of the body 10 may be directly connected to the wire line W by means of a rope socket 11 of any conventional construction, or intermediate jars or weights 12 may be positioned between the body 10 and the rope socket 11 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The weights 12 may be incorporated as a part of the body 10 in some instances, as will be more evident hereinafter.

A catch finger 20 is pivotally mounted within the slot 10a by means of any suitable pivot mounting such as pivot pin 21 which extends through the body 10 and the catch finger 20 (FIG. 2).

The catch finger 20 is mounted so that when the tool A is out of any pipe, the finger 20 extends laterally or substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the body 10 by the action of a pair of coil springs or other resilient members 25 and 26. The spring 25 has its upper end secured to the body 10 by a retaining pin or bolt 25a. The lower end 25b of the spring 25 is secured to the catch finger 20 so that when the catch finger 20 is pivoted to an upwardly extending position as shown in the solid lines in FIG. 1, the spring 25 is stretched or elongated to exert a returning force on the finger 20.

The lower spring 26 has its lower end 26a connected to the body 10 by a suitable pin or bolt, while its upper end 26b is suitablyconnected to the catch finger 20 so as to cause the spring 26 to stretch 0r elongate when the catch finger 20 is moved to the downwardly extending position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1. The spring 26 thus exerts a force to return the downwardly extending finger 20 to an intermediate or upper position. It will be understood that although it is preferable to dispose the springs 25 and 26 so as to have a balancing force on the catch finger 20 when the finger 20 is in the substantially perpendicular position to the longitudinal axis of the body 10 when the apparatus A is out of any pipe, the springs 25 and 26 may be disposed for holding the catch finger 20 in some other position so long as they are capable of exerting a returning force to cause the catch finger 20 to enter the collar C or other collar in a pipe or casing C in either the upwardly extending position or the downwardly extending position.

A drag spring 30, two of which are illustrated in FIG. 2, are provided for urging the body 10 in a direction to cause the catch finger 20 to resiliently engage the inside surface of the pipe or casing C when the finger 20 is in either the upwardly extending position or the downwardly extending position. If a single drag spring 30 is employed, it is disposed preferably directly opposite to the finger 20, but as illustrated, the two springs 30 are spaced apart so as to exert as substantially uniform resilient force on the body 10 in the direction of the catch finger 20. The upper end of each spring 30 is secured to the body 10 by welding, screws or other suitable means.

The lower end of each of the springs 30 is secured to a sliding sleeve 31 which is disposed on a body section 10b of a reduced diameter. Such body section 1015 may be formed of the same diameter as the rest of the body 10, but to facilitate the mounting of the lower end of the spring or springs 30, it is preferably reduced as illustrated. The sliding sleeve 31 is engaged by a resilient member such as a coil spring 35 which is confined between such sliding sleeve 31 and a shoulder 10c formed on the lower end of the body 10b, preferably by an enlargement or threaded nut 10d which is either integral with or is threaded to the body section 10b. When the body 10 is urged in a lateral direction to the left as viewed in FIG. 1, which occurs during the shifting of the catch finger 20 from the upwardly extending position to the downwardly extending position, and vice versa, the collar 31 slides downwardly on the body section 10b, compressing the spring 35 and therefore the spring 35 acts to return the body 10 to the position shown in FIG. 1 after the catch finger 20 has shifted to its new position, as will be more evident hereinafter.

In the operation of the collar locator A of this invention in carrying out the method of this invention, the collar cator A is lowered into the pipe or casing C on the flexible line or wire line W. When there is a tubing string T present within the casing C, the collar locator A is lowered through the tubing and into the casing. At this point, various steps may be performed. Assuming that it is desired to initially locate the first collar C below the lower end of the tubing T, the collar locator A is lowered until the collar locator A is below such collar C. The approximate distance for such lowering is generally known from information that is kept at the time of placing the casing or pipe C in the well, or from subsequent records which are made.

In any event, after the collar locator A has been lowered below the lower end of the tubing T, so that the catch finger is below the collar C, and with the catch finger 20 in the upwardly extending position shown in FIG. 1, the wire line W is pulled upwardly. During such upward movement of the locator A, the resiliency of the drag springs 30, and the spring serve to urge the catch finger 20 into contact with the inside surface of the casing C and to also cause the catch finger 20 to move into the recess of the collar C when the catch finger 20 becomes aligned with such recess of the collar C. When the catch finger 20 thus enters the collar C, a resistance to the upward movement of the collar locator A will be evident to the operator at the surface of the well, and also, the weight indicator will reflect that an increased pull is being imposed on the wire line W.

The combination of the springs 25, 26, and may be set so that the catch finger 20 is tripped or turned over to the downwardly extending position when any predetermined amount of pull is exerted on the tool A by the wire line W. Normally, the additional pull required for tripping the catch finger 20 from the upwardly extending position to the downwardly extending position is about fifty pounds, but this may be adjusted as desired, preferably by threading the nut 10d upwardly or downwardly on the body section 10b to change the compression of the spring 35.

The operator, by observing the weight indicator, may either apply enough pull to trip the catch finger 20 from its upwardly extending position to its lower extending position at this time, or, having located the collar C, the operator may determine to lower the apparatus A down to a lower collar in the pipeC. In any event, while the operator has the wire line W with the additional pull thereon indicating that the upwardly extending catch finger 20 is in the recess of the collar C, the odometer is read so that the elevation of the collar C is exactly determined. The odometer is a conventional depth indicator which measures the length of the wire line W so that together with the length of the wire line W and the apparatus A, the exact location of the catch finger 20 is readily measured and indicated. If desired, such elevation may be coordinated with the record of the weight at that elevation on the recorder, whereby a permanent record is automatically made at each elevation of each of the collars C and others not shown in the drawings.

If the operator elects to trip the catch finger 20 from the upwardly extending position to the lower extended position, the collar locator A may then be moved upwardly until it engages the lower end of the tubing T upon such engagement, the drag spring 30 is elongated or squeezed to a smaller diameter, causing a greater compression of the spring 35 and a greater pulling force than required for normally tripping the catch finger 20 from the upper position to the lower position. Therefore, the operator knows that if a greater weight is indicated on the weight indicator B than the tripping weight of fifty pounds or other amount which has been set, that he has engaged the lower end of the tubing string T and such indication is also either noted or recorded in conjunction with the reading on the odometer or the depth indicator D.

After the lower end of the tubing T has been located, the collar locator A may be lowered down with the finger 20 extending downwardly, using the weights 12 and jars if necessary to cause the locator A to move downwardly within the casing or pipe C. When the downwardly extending finger 20 engages the collar C, it can be tripped from the lower position to the upper position by the use of the jars in conjunction with the weights 12, or the wire line may simply be jerked and rapidly lowered to exert a sufficient force to cause the finger 20 to flip from the lower position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1 to the upper position shown in solid lines in FIG. 1. It should be noted that when the finger 20 shifts from either the downward posi tion to the upward position or vice versa, the whole body 10 shifts laterally in the direction of the drag spring or springs 30 and the spring 35 compresses, but as soon as the finger 20 has passed the intermediate or substantially perpendicular position to the longitudinal axis of the body 10, the compressed spring 35 and the spring 30 act to shift the body 10 in the direction of the finger 20 until the body 10 contacts the casing C or until the tension caused by the spring 25 or spring 26 is sufficient to prevent further movement of the body 10 in that direction. At that time, the finger 20 is stabilized and the whole apparatus is resiliently positioned with the finger 20 in a position for catching a collar as it passes either in the upward direction or the downward direction. Of course, when the finger 20 is in the downward direction, the spring 26 is exerting a return force which is serving to stabilize the apparatus A in a particular position within the pipe C. It can thus be seen that there is a unique relationship between the operation of the various resilient means in the tool A to not only maintain the tool in a particular position within the cas ing C but to also maintain the catch finger 20 in an extended position at an angle so that it can engage the casing col lar C or other collar, regardless of the direction of movement of the apparatus A within the pipe or casing C.

If the apparatus A has been tripped so that the finger 20 is extending upwardly and is in engagement with the inside wall of the casing C, it may be lowered downwardly to pass the next collar below the collar C shown in the draw ings. It will be understood that as the apparatus A moves downwardly, the upwardly extending finger 20 does not catch in the collar C, but thereafter upon a raising of the wire line W, the finger20 again engages the subsequent collars below the collar C and the elevation of each of the lower collars can thus be determined on the odometer and recorded if desired on the recorder.

After the collars have thus been determined and located in the pipe C, the collar locator A may be removed from the pipe C and the tubing T by pulling upwardly on the wire line W. Normally, the first step in the removal of the locator A is to shift the catch finger 20 from the upwardly extending position to the downwardly extending position and then substantially no resistance to movement is encountered until the springs 30 and the catch finger 20 enter the tubing T. The resistance which is offered at that point is not sufficient to prevent a relatively rapid removal of the collar locator A by continued upward movement of the wire line W.

It should also be pointed out that instead of obtaining an indication of the collars C by a lifting upwardly on the wire line W with the catch finger 20 in the up-- wardly extending position, the collars may be located with the catch finger 20 in the downwardly extending position by successively moving the collar locator from the lowermost point in the pipe or casing C upwardly, and testing at each elevation until it is clear that the finger 20 is resting in the collar due to the slackening of the wire line W when this occurs.

The versatility of the apparatus A of this invention can thus be appreciated, and the procedures and methods described above are set forth by way of example and not by way of limitation.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the inven-' tion is illustrative and explanatory thereof and various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustrated construction, may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for locating one or more collars in a pipe,

comprising:

(a) a body adapted to be disposed in a pipe,

(b) a flexible line connected to said body for raising and lowering said body in the pipe,

(c) a catch finger adapted to enter a recess in the pipe.

(d) means mounting said finger on said body for movement of said finger from an upwardly extending position in which it is adapted to enter the recess and restrain the upward movement of the body to a downwardly extending position in which it is adapted to enter the recess and restrain the downward movement of the body, and

(e) resilient means for selectively maintaining said finger in either of said positions while permitting a shifting of said finger from said upwardly extending position to said downwardly extendng poston.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, including:

(a) weights connected with said body for assisting in forcing the device downwardly in the well pipe and for shifting said catch finger from its downwardly extending position to its upwardly extending position.

3. The structure. set forth in claim 1, wherein said resilient means includes:

(a) a pair of springs connected to said catch finger for resiliently positioning said finger in a laterally extending position when the device is out of the pipe,

(b) a drag shoe mounted on said body for engagement with the inside wall of the pipe to urge the body laterally so as to resiliently urge said catch finger into contact with the inside wall of the pipe, causing it to pivot to either the upwardly extending position or the downwardly extending position, and

(c) said drag shoe being compressible for a pivoting of said catch finger from one position to the other.

4. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein:

(a) said means'mounting said finger on said body includes a pivot means, and

(b) said resilient means includes (1) a compressible drag shoe mounted on the body and: engageable with the inside wall of the Well pipe, and

springs acting in opposite direccatch finger for suspending said n a centered position from which it may in its upwardly extending position to alternately stretch each of the pair of springs.

5. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein said resilient means includes:

(a) a pair of springs connected to said catch finger for resiliently positioning said finger in a laterally extending position when the device is out of the (b) a leaf spring having one end thereof secured to said body and the other end thereof slidably mounted on said body, and

(c) a compressible coil spring supported on said body and. resiliently supporting the slidable end of said leaf spring. i 6. A method of determining the elevation of one or r more pipe collars in a pipe, comprising the steps of: o (a) lowering a collar locator on a flexible non-electrical line into a pipe, wherein the collar locator has a catch finger thereon in an upwardly extending position and 'with the flexible li-ne operably connected to a weight indicator,

(b) continuing said lowering until the catch finger is below a dollar whose elevation is to be determined,

(c) thereafter pulling upwardly on the flexible line to cause the catch finger to enter the collar and produce an increased indication of weight on the weight indicator,

(d) observing the increased weight indication on the weight indicator, and

(e)"=after the increased indication is observed, determining the length of the flexible line in the pipe to thereby determine the elevation of the collar.

7. The method set forth in claim 6, including:

(a) pulling iupwardly on the flexible line to cause the catch finger to pivot to' a downwardly extending position which releases same from the 'collar, and

(b) thereafter pulling the collar locator upwardly and out of the pipe.

8. The method set forth in claim 6, including:

(a) subsequently lowering the collar locator to a point below another collar, I

(b) thereafter pulling upwardly on the flexible line to cause the catch finger to enter such other collar, and

(c) then determining the length of the flexible line in the pipe to thereby determine the elevation of such other collar.

9. The method set forth in claim 6, including:

(a) recording the increased weight indication of the weight indicator when the catch finger enters the collar.

10. The method set forth in claim 6, wherein the pipe is a well casing within which is disposed a tubing string the lower end of which is above said collar, and including:

(a) initially lowering the collar locator through the elevation of the collar in the casing, and

(b) thereafter engaging the catch finger with the lower end of the tubing string when pulling upwardly on the flexible line to thereby determine the elevation thereof.

References Cited UtiIITED STATES PATENTS 2,459,499 17-1949 Castel.

2,532,536 1271950 Boucher 7315l X 2,558,427 6/1951 Fagan 73-151 3,163,487 12/1964 Buck 73151 X HARRY N. HAROIAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R, 73-151 tubing and' into the casing prior to determining the 

